Blind
by KisstheRain14
Summary: Collection of TylerCaroline oneshots. Bread, kisses, and stomped feet, oh my.
1. Of Mixed Feelings and Compromise

**Of Mixed Feelings and Compromise**

_Uh, I don't remember what the series has to say about vampires and taste buds, but for this fic, let's just assume that vampires can still taste human food. This takes place a little after 2x11 - the promo for 2x12 hasn't happened._

**_Edit: _**_In the actual TV series, when Caroline tells Stefan that she told Tyler about her being a vampire, they meet at the Grill because she needs to eat. SO WHOO, THIS FIC MAKES SENSE EVEN IN THE ACTUAL TV SERIES. VAMPIRES STILL EAT. YES._

_Yeah, I had to add this in. I was excited._

* * *

Caroline Forbes was hungry.

Not in a vampy way - she'd downed a pouch of O negative a few hours ago - but in that girly, hormonal, mood swing-y way. And when she swung open the pantry door in her kitchen to find empty shelves instead of food (and no ice cream in the freezer, dammit), she decided it was time for a trip to ShopRite.

Scooping up her car keys and purse, she skipped to the front door and headed out. As soon as she locked the door, however, her cell phone started to vibrate. Digging it out of her jeans pocket, she flipped it open.

"Hello?"

"Where the hell are you?" Damon's voice filtered through the line and she sighed, stress levels already rising.

"About to go out. I'm in front of my house right now. Why?"

"When I said that I'd assigned Vampire Barbie to Tyler Lockwood duty, I meant you."

"I know, I took care of it yesterday night - "

"And he's still unstable, Blondie."

Caroline was at a loss for words. "He told me he was fine last night... he didn't want me to stick around."

"That's understandable," he drawled, and she felt like staking him. "But he's going to have to suck it up. I'm sure you two have bonded sufficiently enough for you to drop in and babysit him for the afternoon, so I suggest you do that." He hung up before she could answer, and she found herself trying to make a comeback to the dial tone.

Dropping her phone into her purse, she sighed again and unlocked the doors to her Fiesta. It looked like her snack was going to have to wait. She slid into the driver's seat and hit the gas almost immediately, taking the familiar route to Tyler's huge house. She didn't even have to think it out - years of forced playdates, school projects, parties and social functions had embedded the directions into her memory. So her thoughts took a slightly different turn.

It wasn't like she didn't want to see Tyler (she actually did, very much). It was just that he hadn't seemed to want to talk to her all that much on the drive back. He'd been silent during the whole ride, keeping his eyes trained out his window and fingers clenched into fists (she debated reaching over and uncurling them, because his nails were close to piercing skin, but she'd chickened out). She hadn't dared to break the quiet, although it was one of the things that Caroline Forbes did best. Awkward silences were one of her pet peeves, but this one she'd let slide (she was scared of what might've come from talking). As soon as she pulled up in front of his house, he mumbled something that sounded like both a thank you and an apology before throwing the door open, taking his bag from the Fiesta's trunk, and practically running up his drive to the house. He didn't even throw a backwards glance (and she kind of wanted him to).

She blinked when she found herself parked on the Lockwood driveway already. The front door opened and Tyler's head poked out, expression puzzled. No doubt he'd heard the car pull in with his newly-aquired sensitive hearing and was wondering who it was. His expression froze when he saw her familiar blue Fiesta and he stepped out onto the porch, crossing his arms. She stepped out of the car and took a deep breath, checking to make sure that no one was around before blurring to his side.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" she asked tentatively.

"Human, with wolfish urges." Tyler looked down and gave her a surprising smirk. "As opposed to wolfish, with human urges."

Caroline giggled, feeling relief course through her body. He was recovering. And he wasn't mad at her.

Wait. Why did that matter?

"So what were you planning to do today?" she asked him hurriedly, distracting herself.

"Uh... nothing. I was going to lie in bed and watch T.V. Why?" he shot her an apprehensive look. "You aren't going to make me your shopping partner, are you?"

Caroline's face broke into a huge grin. "As a matter of fact, yes, I am." Looked like ShopRite wasn't totally out of the picture just yet.

* * *

Caroline had to admit, seeing Tyler with a shopping basket in his hand was a little strange. Good-strange, but strange all the same. He looked a little uncomfortable too, as if this was out of his comfort zone. Way out. She guessed that the last time he'd gone grocery shopping was when his mother had taken him in like, second grade.

"What are we doing here?" he asked her, following as she walked confidently into the aisles.

"Getting something to eat," she responded lightly. "I don't know about you, but I have a craving for... chocolate. Chocolate cake, maybe? Brownies. Hmm."

Tyler looked surprised. He grabbed her wrist and, making sure that no one could hear them, he whispered, "You can taste?"

She snorted in amusement. "Duh. I mean, nothing tastes as awesome as blood, but of course I can taste. Why? Don't tell me you can't."

"No, I can. It's just that, well, my diet hasn't changed."

Caroline shrugged. "Well, I can taste. And right now, I want to taste some chocolate. Come on, let's go to the baked goods section." She practically skipped to the back of the store and Tyler didn't know whether to roll his eyes or laugh as he was tugged along.

The shelves were almost empty of food, since it was nearing the end of the week and new stocks hadn't come in. Caroline browsed quickly through the muffins and reached the plain cake section, the ones in a plastic case without any icing or toppings whatsoever. Tyler watched with interest as she rifled through the stacks.

"God, how is that possible? There's only freaking corn bread left."

He shrugged, picking up a case. "Corn bread is good."

"Did you _not_ hear me say that I wanted chocolate?"

"You can have your damn chocolate - I want corn bread."

"Well screw you, I don't have enough money to buy both."

He looked over at her incredulously. "These only cost like, two dollars. How do you only have two dollars?"

"I went clothes shopping a few days ago," she sniffed. "Is that a problem?"

Tyler blinked, then deliberately placed the corn bread into the basket. "Since there's no chocolate, we're getting this."

Caroline's jaw dropped. "You did not."

"Oh suck it up, Forbes. It's just bread."

She grabbed the corn bread and almost threw it back onto the shelf. "No."

He raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yes." He picked it back up and held it out of her reach. "I'm getting this."

"All I had today was a bottle of O-neg. I'm getting what I want." She stood on her tiptoes in an attempt to reach the case, but Tyler mimicked her movement and smirked down at her.

"All _I_ had today was a bowl of Apple Jacks. I'm getting what _I_ want."

Caroline stomped her foot. "Tyler!"

"Care, it's just bread. Jeez. You're making a scene. Look, that little kid is staring at you."

"Tyler Aaron Lockwood - "

"Look, chocolate's over there!" Caroline whipped around, following his finger, to see... nothing. Turning back with a scowl, she saw Tyler laughing at her.

"I hate you."

"Just get a chocolate bar, dumbass."

"I don't have the money for both, stupidface!"

"That's what you get for dragging me out of the house without giving me time to get my wallet." He shivered. "Or my jacket."

"Suck it up, you're a wolf." Her voice dropped in volume. "Aren't you supposed to feel really warm all the time?"

It was Tyler's turn to scowl. "That's only before a full moon."

"Poor baby." She huffed and crossed her arms. "I still hate you."

His face turned thoughtful as he glanced at the rest of the breads. He reached around her and grabbed a banana bread. "Look, this costs one twenty. That leaves you eighty cents to get a Snickers, right? Everyone's happy."

Caroline's irritated expression slowly dropped off her face as she examined him closely. "You'll really get the banana bread instead?"

Tyler shrugged. "Both of them taste good."

She laughed and threw her arms around him happily. "Thank you thank you thank you! All right, so the Snickers are in the checkout line... well, I might get a Hershey bar instead... um..."

Tyler shook his head and dropped the bread into his basket, leisurely following the bouncing Caroline all the way to the checkout line.

Their total came exactly to one ninety-nine.

* * *

**First Vampire Diaries fic I've done... I hope it's okay. I've found myself falling in love with the TylerCaroline pairing, and I hope that this one lasts in the series.**

**Just a note: I'm looking for the episode where Caroline is at home with Tyler, then Matt knocks on her door. She answers it, Tyler is behind her, and there's the awkward moment. Anyone know where it is?**


	2. Hot Mess

**Hot Mess**

_Summary: Really, although they'd been best friends, their styles were too different._

_Based on the 2x12 promo_

__

_

* * *

_

Matt had kissed her earlier that day. It had been soft, tentative, questioning. She'd closed her eyes and let him ask, her mind conflicted as she ran through all the possible answers.

She could think of nothing.

His hands had cupped her jaw and he'd been gentle, not pushing her or forcing a reply. He'd left it open-ended, simply complex.

That was nothing like Tyler.

His hands were warm and alive as they pressed against her neck, fingers curling into her hair. The sheer force of his kiss had her stumbling backwards even as she reached for him; her back hit her front door and they both took a breath as the impact jarred their lips apart. She wasn't sure who restarted the kissing but his lips were pressing down hard on hers as she struggled to regain control of her senses. She could smell his skin and the salty sweat that lay on it, as well as the copper tang of blood underneath it all. She had to fight to keep her fangs from slipping out and she suddenly gained a new perspective on why Damon had bitten her so many times. It was just so damn irresistible. His mouth was sloppy and urging on hers and she found herself reciprocating just as hastily. It wasn't neat; it wasn't pretty. It was _burning._

_He's a werewolf,_ she chided herself. Not only would it be bad for him to be bitten by a vampire, they were mortal _enemies!_ She was pretty sure that the deed their tongues were currently carrying out did _not_ fall under the "enemy" category. It fell under the "God I like you but I don't know how to deal with it" category. Or, at the least passionate, under the "friends with benefits" category. But they'd just recently become friends, and that was because it was a bit of a survival instinct.

_Vampire hooking up with werewolf for survival? I don't think so._

She felt her conscious thought and rationale slipping away with every tick of the clock and quickly jerked her head away. He looked up at her, eyes hooded, and she actually shivered. She couldn't let that stop her though.

"Everyone just needs to stop kissing me!" she demanded, hearing the childish pout in her voice and hating every second of it. She turned away and entered the house, slamming the door behind her. She banged her head back against the hard wood as soon as she felt the knob click and closed her eyes.

God, she was confused.

* * *

**TylerCaroline just has to happen in 2x12. It just has to.**


	3. Haunted and Wanted

**Honestly, I don't even remember what happens in this episode. All I remember is the exchange between Caroline and Tyler at the Halloween party, and that's cause of a video clip I saw on MeadowesProductions. All credit to the vid goes to her. (Her FFN name is SephMeadowes - if you're looking for a good TylerCaroline read, check out her stuff. I especially like Too Shy To Scream.)**

_Summary: All she knows is that she isn't getting her wish tonight. But for once, she's okay with that._

_

* * *

_

"I am going to drink until someone is hot enough to make out with." Her words echo in her mind as she leans against a tree, a cloud of drunkenness practically wafting off her and attracting desperate guys. She bats them all away, making faces and muttering something unintelligible. The boys all shrug and walk away after a few seconds, too tempted by other prospects to waste much time on her rejection.

The bark of the gnarled tree is rough against the cheap polyester of her cape, catching at the stitches and digging into her back. She sighs and slides down to sit on a protruding root, witch's hat balanced precariously on her head.

What is she doing here, again?

* * *

For some reason, Tyler doesn't feel like getting wasted that night.

Sure, he'd offered alcohol to Bonnie and Caroline, but that had just been for good host skills or some crap like that. After making a few rounds and taking a few sips, he throws the over-half-full cup away. Ignoring the couple that is passionately making out by the trash can, he turns around and sweeps the scene with his eyes, gaze snagging on a nodding blonde head at the peripheral of the party.

_Caroline._ But this couldn't be Caroline, not Caroline Forbes. Even when Forbes is drunk, she manags to steal the spotlight and a few makeout sessions on the side. But here she is, half-asleep on a tree root as the party pushed on without her.

So maybe it's the relief at not being the only one out of character, he'd never know. Nevertheless, he starts to make his way over to her.

_(Actually, he has a sneaking suspicion that he genuinely wants to go to her.)_

He crouches down next to her as the lingering smell of alcohol hits his nose and examines her face, taking note of the lethargy etched in her face. "Care?" he says tentatively, touching her shoulder. She doesn't respond. "Care. Wake up. Come on."

Her eyes flutter, then open for a brief moment. "Tyler? What - where am I, again?"

"God, Care... how much did you have to drink?"

"I think someone spiked the punch more than once," she mutters.

Tyler sighs. "Can you wake up?"

"Mm. No."

"Caro-_line."_

"No!" She sounds like a small child. Maybe that's why he decides to help her.

_(Well, if he was going to be honest, he'd decided to help her since the second he saw her like this.)_

Getting to his feet, he loops her arm carefully around his neck and lets her lean on him as they walk slowly to his car. The other students pay little to no attention to them, having too much fun with too much alcohol. Carefully placing Caroline in the passenger seat, he buckles her seat belt for her and slides into the driver's side. Revving the engine, he drives quickly out of the school parking lot and toward his house, knowing that his parents would be out doing some crap around town and wouldn't come into his room to check on him anyway.

Stumbling into the dark, carpeted room, he fumbles for the light switch before setting Caroline on his bed. She blinks up at him lazily and asks, "Why are we here?"

"You're way too drunk to take care of yourself," he tells her awkwardly, ruffling through his drawers to find a shirt to put on.

"But why are we at your house?"

Tyler blinks. It's a good question, he has to admit. He could've taken her home and dumped her at her own room before returning to the party. Why is he claiming responsibility?

"For a drunk person, you sure look sober," he mutters instead of answering, brushing away her heavy gaze to enter the adjacent bathroom. She flops backward onto his bed as he watches through the mirror. He takes a deep breath and starts to brush his teeth.

_(All right, so he isn't planning to go back to the party. So what. Sue him.)_

"Tyler?"

"Mmm?"

"Am I sleeping here tonight?"

His toothbrush halts, the foam of the paste dropping into the sink. "Um..." He quickly spits out and rinses, taking the flurried moments to formulate a response. As he dries his mouth on the towel in the corner, he walks out of the bathroom as casually as he dares. "Is your mom going to be home anytime soon?"

Caroline snorts. "Like I should know."

"Well, I don't think you wanna show her your drunk side, do you?"

Care is silent. "Okay. So..." Her eyes brighten as she remembers what she'd said way back at the beginning of the night. "So I'm drunk and you look hot. Let's make out."

What startles him isn't the request. It's the flare of desire that makes him actually want to climb on the bed next to her and sear his skin onto hers. He suddenly can't breathe properly and her eyes aren't making things easier.

But God, he can't take advantage of a drunk girl. Vicki is one thing, but Caroline is _Caroline._ He isn't going to do that to her.

"Uh." His voice stumbles. "Care, you're really drunk. I don't - "

"That's my point," she says, in a _duh_ tone. "Come on Tyler. You've never turned it down before." She stretches out her arm to him invitingly.

"God," he mumbles, staring at her upturned hand. He shakes his head slightly, trying to clear it. Then he abruptly walks out of the room, not trusting himself with words.

Caroline stares after him for a few seconds, then shrugs. She might as well sleep; she's suddenly tired.

_(Although she kind of wishes he'll come back soon.)_

_

* * *

_

**Did anyone watch 2x12? I think they should've expanded on the TylerCaroline (of course), but I was really happy with the DamonRose. I cried.**


	4. It's Too Hard To Say

****

**I absolutely hated the end of 2x14. How could Tyler LEAVE? How am I going to get my CarolineTyler fix now? WHAT?**

**If he doesn't come back and hook up with Caroline, heads will roll.**

**AU. Posted a day early for Project PULL, because I'm not going to be around on Friday.**

**

* * *

**

It doesn't take long.

She's digging through her purse at home, wondering where her Take 5 Cobalt gum went, when she remembers that she accidentally took Bonnie's hairbrush instead of her own after the sleepover. Common courtesy dictates that she should tell her. Shrugging and abandoning her gum search, she checks the inside pocket of her bag for her cell phone.

It's not there.

Ignoring the little warning bell that flares in her mind, she dumps all her stuff out onto her bed. Rifling through it quickly, then more slowly after failing to find it again, she sits up straight with a frown.

Her phone's gone, and she thinks she knows who took it.

He is a dick, after all, and dicks don't help people when they've spilled their stuff.

* * *

Matt's holding him up by the collar and demanding the truth. He wishes that he really was lying, that there actually is something going on between him and her. There isn't, though, and that's actually the basis of most of his problems these days.

As Matt tells him not to lie and walks away, he's left there staring after him and wondering when the hell his life got so messed up.

* * *

Elena's hugging him tightly and telling him that everything's okay, and that she forgives him. He hugs her back, realizing then that he can't stay around any longer. He came too close to hurting his childhood friend today, and who knows who's next? There are too many people he cares about in this town, he thinks, and he can't stick around and expect them all to be okay.

That's one of the things about being branded, though. No one wants to associate themselves with you, and it's better to keep your distance anyway.

* * *

She's dropping Luka off at the Grille. She volunteered to, planning to leave some time alone for Jeremy to (hopefully) make his move with Bonnie. She's driving through the dark streets of Mystic Falls, the radio silent and a half-conscious body in her passenger seat. Her headlights bounce off the road, the buildings, the signs, the other cars, but she feels desolate inside, as if she truly is alone.

She wonders if it's because she's pushing everyone away. It seems to be her special talent. It started with her mother, then eventually her friends (although the sleepover helped that a lot), and now its the general public. No one seems to care all that much though. They're busy with everything going on.

There used to be a boy who cared. But then he decided to steer away from her. Figures.

She feels nervous without her phone.

* * *

The letter doesn't say much. He winces as the porch step creaks, berating himself for not remembering. He always remembers. But then again, everything about today had been different - why not this part as well?

He remembers writing the letter. Julees had rummaged around in her truck for paper and a pen, coming up with a notepad with a questionable stain on the side (she _said_ it was pizza sauce, but...) and a scratchy pen. He had jotted down minimal information on one of the clean sheets, assured his mother that he'd be fine, and promised a phone call sooner or later. He doesn't know if he'll be able to follow up on that.

He has two more stops to make.

* * *

The Grille is warm, empty, and most importantly, at its cleaning up stage of the night. He sees Matt immediately, hands quickly loading dirty plates onto his tray to carry back into the kitchen. When Matt sees him, he tries to get away.

The irony isn't lost on him.

This is the part where he relinquishes whatever hold he had on her. He wants to assure himself that she'll have a good future, that she'll be safe, happy, and get everything she deserves. She's a vampire, it's true, but she's still his childhood friend, his supernatural mentor, his unlikely-but-true crush. She's still herself, and that's really all that she can be.

She deserves someone like Matt. Someone stable, unaware, safe.

One more stop to make. The small object in his pants pocket starts to feel hot.

* * *

She's looking through her purse one more time, hoping against hope that her phone is there. She doesn't want to confront a probably-angry werewolf about her missing possession, much less accuse him of stealing it. That'd just be another issue to add to the quickly-growing list.

She hears the porch creak ever-so-slightly under someone's weight and she freezes. Then, heading down, she calls out for her mom.

(She knows it's not her mom, though, since the weight is too heavy to be Sheriff Forbes. In fact, she knows exactly who it is.)

Her feet hit the lower landing and she pads over to the front door, holding her breath and forcing her mind to screech to a stop.

* * *

Her phone is in his hand now, and he can distantly hear Jules's truck idling behind him on the curb. Walking slowly up to her front door, he wonders what the hell he's supposed to say to a probably-angry vampire about the problems between them, much less break the news that he's leaving. Yeah, that'd go over great.

She appears before he's even close to knocking. He mentally smacks himself on the forehead. Vampire hearing, hello.

He doesn't know what he'll do if she locks the door and walks away. He'd have the slight comfort of knowing that she couldn't see him from the angle that she's standing at, but other than that, he'd probably feel incredibly lost. He used to find reassurance in her presence - being locked away from that, even unintentionally, would be shattering.

She pauses before turning the knob, taking a deep breath. Then she's peering outside, expression resigned, before snapping back inside the confines of her house at the sight of him. Her body coils.

This is going to be harder than he thought.

* * *

"Caro - "

"Give me back my phone." Her tone is icy.

He hands it over wordlessly, noting that her fingers carefully avoid contact with his when she snatches it back. She tucks it into her sweatpants' pocket, eyeing him distrustfully.

"I'm leaving." The words fly from his mouth and her stomach plummets, hitting somewhere amongst her toes. Her eyes meet his in surprise, searching for an explanation.

(The brown is disconcertingly familiar.)

"I... Can I come in?" He doesn't know where the bravery to ask came from, but he's glad it decided to show up just then. Her gaze flicks to Jules's car behind him - of course she'd noticed - but he shakes his head. He really doesn't give a crap about Jules.

She bites her lip. Considering everything that went on, she shouldn't allow him into her house. She doesn't trust him, she's decided, and letting him in would send the wrong message. But he's leaving, and Jules's car only proves that. Sending messages doesn't matter anymore, because he won't be around to act on them.

So she steps aside and lets him brush past her, feeling the rough but soft leather of his jacket rub against her skin. She closes the door behind her, careful to send a warning look to the werewolf waiting in the car. _If she sets a foot into my house, I'll rip her heart out._

It seems like years since he's been in her living room, but it's only been a few days. Nevertheless, he looks at her awkwardly instead of sitting down. She crosses her arms and leans against the doorframe, eyes hooded. "What?" she asks icily, refusing to meet his gaze.

"I don't... God, Care, I'm so sorry - "

"I don't give a _damn_ whether you're sorry or not, Tyler!" Both of them blink, unprepared for the torrent of angry words. "You just stood there and watched as I was dying, thanks to your pretty little _dog_ friend, not even bothering to try helping me, your friend since _birth - "_

"You lied to me!" he yelled back, that old, hot anger flaring back up. "You deliberately didn't tell me that Mason was dead, that there were other vampires in town - "

"I was trying to protect you! If you knew, Damon was going to rip your throat out before the full moon - you'd be _dead_ right now, Tyler, if I'd come clean."

"And you'd be dead right now if I didn't let you out of that cage, Caroline! God!" He tugs harshly at his hair, stalking towards her. She holds her ground, stubborn as hell and incredibly pissed.

"Do you know what your _friends - "_ she spat the word, reminding him of the trick they'd played on him about Elena - "did to me there? I was in there for over four hours. Nothing but me, your werewolf friend, some wooden toothpicks, vervain water, and a loaded gun. Do you know how many times I got shot? Four times, Tyler. _Four._ And you don't even want to know about the vervain and toothpicks."

He's in her face now, expression screwed up and hands clenched into fists at his side. "I didn't know about that," he informs her through a tight jaw. "I swear, I had no idea - "

"It doesn't matter," she retorts, "because it's over. This friendship thing we had going on? It's totally over. You know what?" she asks in a spiteful burst of inspiration. "I'm glad you're leaving. I want you gone. I don't want to look at you ever ag - "

He slams her to the pillar next to the fireplace, hands placed on either side of her head and nose practically touching hers. "You're such an insecure, neurotic, bitchy little twit."

She scoffs. "Twit? Really? That's the best you could - "

His mouth is suddenly hot against hers, taking and taking and _taking_ until Caroline thinks she's going to burst. She twists a handful of his shirt closer and retaliates, trying to win dominance. He growls and pushes himself straight up against her, biting at her upper lip to regain control. She pulls at his hair, aggressive and uncaring.

(Or maybe she just cares so much it hurts.)

"God, Tyler," she whispers, an edge apparent in her voice.

"Shut up," he orders her, running his thumb across her hipbone. She shivers and pulls him closer again, pressing her lips to his. There was something magnetic about him, something that was new. And being Caroline, she had to explore. She had to figure out what was so appealing about him and analyze it, dominate it.

That last part wasn't working out so well.

They must have spent five minutes this way, both of them struggling not to fall as they fought for control.

Then the doorbell rang obnoxiously, cutting through the hazy, timeless air and making them spring apart. Sniffing the air, Caroline realized that Jules was waiting on the doorstep. She swore and pushed Tyler away, breathing heavily and refusing to meet his gaze.

He guided her chin up, forcing her to look at him. His gaze was conflicted, fighting between staying and going, loving or leaving. Opening his mouth, he started to say something.

The doorbell cut him off.

When he looked back to finish his sentence, he was met with nothing but a blank, white pillar.

She was gone.

****

* * *

**So yeah, sorry about the crap ending. O-O**

**Watching 2x15 now... hope all goes well! Neither Caroline or Tyler have showed up yet, so...**


	5. Cold Water

**Oh my GOD, Tyler's BACK :D I literally screamed when I saw him. And now my mother hates me. ;]**

* * *

Her feet hurt from her heels, she's kind of hungry for blood, she still doesn't know what to tell Matt and her mind's spinning with worry over Klaus, Elena, Bonnie, her mother, _Tyler's _mother, when all of a sudden he's standing there with new clothes and a new haircut, as if her very thoughts had conjured him up.

"Tyler," she breathes, her heart racing at three hundred miles per hour as her feet skid to a stop. His face is as shocked as hers, but when her eyes flicker over to Jules, she sees cold acceptance and impatience congealing there.

_That bitch_, Caroline thinks with sudden vindictiveness. How dare she stand there - with an even skinnier frame, her petty side adds - and look at her like that when _she_ was the one who ripped Tyler away from Mystic Falls?

And then he's standing in front of her alone, vulnerability uneasily slipping behind a calm mask. He weakly tries to defend Jules, and she blurts out the question that's foremost on her mind.

"So what, are you two like, friends now?" She loses her nerve at the last second and replaces 'together' with 'friends', but they both know her intent. He dodges the question, something that doesn't rest easy with her.

"How are you?" he asks, skipping straight from relationships to small talk. She tilts her head and doesn't answer, pushing the topic back to him and his mom. She can see the hurt and the shock behind his eyes; he doesn't know how this happened to his mom, nor had he expected anything to happen to her.

_Welcome to my world, _she thinks bitterly.

And then she's just waiting, pleading for answers as he tries to escape again, but she's not going to let him slip through her fingers another time. She wants to tell him about the hell she went through when he left, the endless questions and the sleepness nights, but she doesn't dare. Instead, she does what Caroline does best.

"Your explanation must have gotten lost in the mail - along with your goodbye." She curses the wobble in her voice at the end of the sentence. He looks away, puts up a flimsy defense. She can sense that he's uncomfortable when she starts walking closer and it hurts unexpectedly, like a sneak attack in the dark. She expects him to say something else, say something, _anything_, that will make him redeemable in her eyes.

"Take care of yourself," he says.

She pauses a moment, starts towards him and calls his name. But just then a knife stabs into her head and she falls to her knees, doubling over in agony.

She keeps falling.

* * *

He wakes up before her, throbbing headache and bitter taste in his mouth both unwanted tokens of his kidnapping. He registers the cold metal around his wrists and instinctively thinks of manacles before hoping that he's wrong.

He's not.

He looks to the opposite side of the cell - cause that's where he is, a cell - and sees Caroline in a similar position, but her head is still down and her breaths are uneven, shallow. His mind races with what could possibly be wrong with her. She's a vampire, don't they heal fast? What's wrong with her?

Why are they there in the first place? As far as he knows, he didn't do anything wrong. And although Caroline has a tendency to get in trouble, this is worse than he ever thought.

He watches her with concern, monitoring her breathing and hoping - damn, praying - that it'll even out. He doesn't know how much time passes before it does, but it does and that's all that matters.

Next, he pulls desperately at the manacles. No dice.

Finally he just collapses onto the floor and waits for Caroline to come around. He's missed her, he finally admits. After long weeks of denying her words, her face, her very existence, it's a shock to see her in front of him in the living (undead?) flesh. He wants to do something stupid and cheesy like take a picture, or even kiss her.

She stirs; he looks up. The first word out of her mouth is his name.

On second thought, he'd rather just kiss her.

She's breathing heavily and he's almost positive that she's hurt no matter what she says, but she's alive. She's alive, and she's here, right in front of him. He wants to reach out to her and hold her, make sure that she won't go anywhere. He keeps his hands to himself, muscles clenching in an effort to keep himself under control.

"I think they're with Klaus."

He stares straight at her, alarms going off. Unfamiliar names have quickly turned into threats, hidden stories and blood and lies.

Her wild gaze doesn't do anything to help this feeling. There's a charged moment of silence, her eyes boring clear through his own.

"Tyler - " he knows it's going to be bad, he knows but it doesn't help him at all - "you shouldn't have come back here."

And that says everything.

* * *

**Review?**


	6. Colors and Salt

**Thank God Matt broke up with Caroline. He really didn't deserve her, and his need for a perfect girl is getting annoying. **

**Anyone else find the Tyler/Caroline moments absolutely beautiful?**

**This set sometime during Tyler's absence. I like playing with the idea of a Damon/Caroline friendship, because it'd be an amazing one.**

* * *

It's dark and quiet and warm and _scary_ as she cries, sticky tears running into her pillow and fingers starting to hurt from how tightly she's fisting them. She tries to remain quiet, not wanting to wake Elena or Bonnie. This is a sleepover, after all, and they're in the Salvatore boarding house to boot. Stefan had said that Jenna's house wasn't safe for any of them right now and she has to admit that he's right. She curls up tighter on the sofa and tries to muffle her sobs.

She misses Tyler. It's strange, though, because everyone says that she's supposed to hurt. Instead, she can't feel anything. It's like he took all of her nerve endings and threw them away, along with her feelings and motivations and dreams and expressions. She doesn't know what he's doing, where he is, if he's safe, or even if he's _dead._

_No,_ she thinks instantly. _I'd know if he was dead. _She may not be able to feel anything, but she'd definitely feel that. Plus, it'd be on the news. She should stop being such a sentimental idiot.

She cries louder.

Rough but light hands are suddenly grasping her shoulders, turning her over and forcing her to sit up. She shies away and continues to cry, fright gripping her as she realizes that she has literally lost control of her tears.

"Hey. Hey, snap out of it. Caroline. Come on." Damon is in front of her, eyes full of that weird colorless fire that occasionally burns like starlight in his face. She's pliant and unresistant as he scoops her up and speeds to his room, laying her on the bed where she rolls back up into her protective ball. He takes a step back and watches her expressionlessly and she wishes that he'd stop - she already feels like a freak, and he's only enhancing that feeling.

Time passes and her frantic tears slow to a just a few stray drops. She's snuffling into Damon's pillows now and to his credit he's only complained twice. She knows she looks like hell - being a vampire doesn't mean she gets an automatic airbrush after she cries - but she doesn't care. Looking up, she meets Damon's quizzical eyes straight on.

"Don't you ever feel like someone's stabbing you every time you see Elena?" she asks.

He immediately stiffens, looking away as his lips set into a hard line. She waits patiently for him to loosen up and give the answer that they all know is true. He finally spits it out, so quietly that even she with her vampire hearing has to strain to hear it. "It's like that with you and Fido, isn't it?" he shoots back, eyes flaring again for a split second. She sniffs again and nods, feeling the numbness come and prickle its way over her heart again.

There's another long silence, broken only by Damon unstoppering a bottle of scotch and pouring himself a glass. She whines something incomprehensible and waves a hand around, but somehow he understands and gives her a glass as well. She sits up a little and takes a long drink.

"How do you keep going?" Caroline asked quietly, rotating her wrist and watching the liquid in her tumbler swirl. She tries to name the color.

"I could say something along the lines of 'that's what she said' here, Care."

(It's too light to be brown but she doesn't want to say yellow.)

She glares. "Answer the question."

Damon's shoulders drop slightly as he sighs. He comes closer and sits on the edge of the bed, turning his head almost lazily to meet her desperate gaze. "Well, in the words of Tom Hanks, 'I'm gonna get out of bed every morning. Breathe in and out all day long. Then, after a while I won't have to remind myself to get out of bed every morning and breathe in and out.' "

" 'And then after a while, I won't have to think about how I had it great and perfect for a while'," she finishes, having watched that movie too many times to count. The words strike home.

(There's almost a copper-y tinge to it but she doesn't want to say copper outright, not after she's smelled fresh blood.)

Damon looks at her, hard. "_You_ had it great for a while," he reminds her. He's not trying to be mean; he's trying to point out the difference in their situations. "It just... didn't work out that time."

She lets out a choked laugh. "Too bad that was the only chance I got."

(It's amber. It's funny, because she'd always considered his eyes an amber color when he'd shifted. Maybe not though. She doesn't want to think about it.)

Damon doesn't agree or disagree, just leans against his bedpost and stares into the distance. She does the same, remembering the way Tyler's fingers had pressed onto her skin as they kissed against her front door. Her waist burns with the memory of his touch.

"You just have to learn how to deal," Damon says suddenly, snapping her out of her thoughts. "You get used to it after a while, the numb feeling. And then it turns into hollowness, then eventually something like anger. But then it all goes away, and you're left wondering how exactly you made it out... but you're glad as hell that you did."

"You..." she hesitates. Even though they're having something like a heart to heart, this might just be restricted area. She decides to try anyway. "You kind of built a shell around yourself, didn't you?"

He takes a breath, a sip of scotch. "Yes." He doesn't offer anything else and she doesn't ask. Instead she mimics him and takes another swig of alcohol, having momentarily forgotten that she was holding the glass.

"Barbie?"

"Hmm?"

He fixes his gaze on hers, trying his damnedest to get this through to her. "I forgot that I had eternity. I spent two hundred years moping after the same girl. Don't make the same mistake I did."

There's a brief, shocked silence - Damon is giving _advice?_ - before she puts down her scotch. She opens her mouth, closes it, then just starts crying again. He scootches closer and lets her cry on his shoulder, no doubt ruining his expensive _plain black_ t-shirt with her snot and salt water. He awkwardly pats her back a little, breathing even and steady. She takes big gasping breaths and tries to center herself again. It doesn't work.

"I - I miss him so much, Damon," she cries, clutching at his shirt.

"Shh, Caroline. I know. I know."

"And I'm scared cause I don't think he's coming back, and I don't think I'll ever see him again, and what if all this time passes and he dies and I'm still left to wander around all lost and stupid on this huge world, alive until forever and ever - "

"Hey." He shakes her a little, makes her focus. "If he's gone too long, you go find him. Okay?"

She meets his eyes again, surprise clearly echoing through her mind. "You go find him," he repeats.

She takes a deep breath, still crying. The tears start dripping across her lips, making her taste salt.

Damon smiles a little. "You were never the damsel-in-distress type, Blondie."


	7. Cheater, Cheater, Lemon Eater

**Don't you hate that feeling of indecisiveness you get when you have a plot, but don't know which characters to use?**

**I don't remember if Aimee Bradley died (probably did) but I don't have another Mystic Falls skank name, so.**

* * *

"Caroline, I swear I didn't mean to - "

"Shut up." She strides to the opposite end of the bedroom, refusing to look at him.

"I was drunk, okay? And it's not like we hooked up or anything - "

"Shut. Up."

"Caroline."

"I hate you, Tyler. Go howl at the moon and die or something."

"That's not fair." He crosses his arms and leans against the wall, lips jutting out in that you're-being-ridiculous expression.

"Fair, my ass! You have no right to speak to me about being _fair_ an hour after I find out you were making out with Aimee Bradley!"

"It was _last week_, at that huge kegger my football teammate hosted!"

"Yeah, and I was there! You made out with some skank when your girlfriend was at the fricking party!"

"I was drunk!" Tyler repeats, straightening up.

She glowers up at him. "That's not an excuse."

"You made out with Matt."

"That was before we officially got together!"

"What, you need a signed form?"

"Don't you dare steer this conversation away from Aimee - "

"We just kissed, okay? I didn't even feel her up!"

"You sure about that?" she challenges. "You were 'drunk', so you can't really remember, can you?"

"Hey, don't air-quote 'drunk' to me. I was!"

"Tyler, you always feel the girl up when you make out with her. That's like, your golden rule."

"Speaking from experience, huh?"

"Don't _make_ me bite you."

"Y'know, if it wasn't for the whole vampire thing, that'd be a major turn on. Do you know how hard it is to keep from giving you a lovebite every time we hook up?"

"Oh, pity. I bet you let go of that inhibition with Aimee Bradley."

"Inhi - what the hell, Caroline. Don't SAT word me."

"Sorry, forgot about your lonely single brain cell. Did it threaten to explode?"

"That was low."

"So was you cheating on me last week!"

"I swear I'm going to pummel whoever told you - "

"So you admit it!" The hurt flashes through her eyes. He moves closer, hands already reaching to pull her close and hug her. She recoils. "_Don't_ touch me."

"It was habit, okay? You know how... loose I was before."

"My mistake, I should have had less faith in you and our three month relationship."

He sighs. "I'm sorry, Care. I really am."

"I hate you. Go sulk in your dungeon."

"Care..."

"I said don't touch me!"

"Look, you're being ridiculous. I'm sorry, okay? I really am. I would take it back, but I'm just a werewolf, not a time traveler."

"God, I was stupid for not noticing her making eyes at you - "

"She was not making eyes at me!"

"So now you're defending her?"

"Would you shut up and listen?"

"You have _no right_ to be mad at me right now - "

"Suck it up, princess, cause I am. God, you think the world revolves around you and your sense of dignity - "

"Oh my God, Tyler, you were _making out with Aimee Bradley._"

He throws his hands up. "I was right. What I said to Matt was right."

"What?" she demands, eyes burning. "What'd you say?"

"I said that you were an insecure - "

"Ex_cuse_ me?"

" - neurotic - "

"You have got to be kidding me."

" - _bitchy_ - "

"Fuck. You."

" - little _twit_."

Both their chests are heaving and they're glaring at each other so hard the room almost catches fire. Caroline considers slapping him. Tyler wonders if repeating his words was a good idea.

"I'm breaking up with you."

All the air leaves his lungs. "What?"

"You heard me." Her eyes are suddenly everywhere but on him. "I'm done. Get out of my house."

He laughs humorlessly. "Don't bother seeing me to the door."

"I won't!"

"Good!"

"Fine!"

"I'm not coming back!"

"Get _out_ you _bastard - _"

"I'm _so_ out of here, Jesus - "

The front door slams.

* * *

The next day at school is torture. People are already whispering in the halls, eyeing her and the distinct lack of Tyler at her side. She turns her nose up to all of them and struts confidently to her first period, retaining the image of Queen Bee for Mystic Falls High School. She's _so_ over Tyler. Besides, she broke up with him. She definitely has the upper hand.

Bonnie knows better than to talk about it, and only pats her shoulder comfortingly. Elena tosses her a note that promises ice cream and movies at the Salvatore boarding house later. She loves her friends.

She sees Aimee Bradley in the hallway between second and third period. She brushes past her without a single word, electricity sparking and causing the majority of the hallway to hush. She knows what a cool display of superiority can do for her image in this mess.

"Aimee's such a skank - "

"I can't believe Tyler would ditch _her_ for Aimee - "

" - yeah, and it was at the party last week - "

" - he's not dealing well, he looked like hell first period - "

She ignores that last overheard comment.

Breezing into fourth period, she takes her seat in between two empty chairs. Bonnie and Elena haven't come in yet, but she hopes they will before _he _does. Thank God, they come in a minute before class starts whereas he's marked late, dashing into the room just after the bell rings. Bonnie scoffs.

"Detention, Lockwood." Their Math teacher isn't as forgiving as Mr. Saltzman. Tyler doesn't even acknowledge it, instead sliding into his seat and throwing his notebook on the desk. It makes a slapping sound as it lands, heightening the tension in the room. Caroline knows that every student in the room will be watching her and Tyler for the next thirty minutes.

His desk is behind hers, but she can still tell he's staring at her. His gaze is intense, making her cheeks hot and fingers restless. She grips her pencil and tries to focus on Pre-Calc to no avail. She tosses her hair on purpose, trying to come off as unaffected. Finally, it becomes too much and she whips her head back, glaring at him. "What?" she mouths.

He shrugs. Fuming, she turns back around and rigorously copies down notes. He's still staring.

* * *

She decides to skip the second half of school - she has eternity to play catch up - and heads straight for the boardinghouse. She says hi to Stefan, who knowingly directs her to Damon. He's in his room, reading some old novel with a half-bored, half-intrigued expression. She bounces on his bed, waiting impatiently for him to acknowledge her. He finally puts down his book and raises an eyebrow at her. "I already heard about Fido, so don't bother."

"How in the world - "

"Mystic Falls is tiny. Gossip catches like wildfire."

"Elena texted you, didn't she?"

He grins. "As I said. Wildfire."

There's a short silence.

"He _cheated on me_," she says, hurt seeping into her tone. "How could he _do_ that?"

"You know love sucks, Blondie."

She laughs but stops quickly, knowing she's right on the brink of tears. After holding it in since last night, she really needs to let it go. Damon seems to understand and waves a hand nonchalantly, as if he's used to girls barging into his bedroom to cry. Her lip wobbles and a few tears slip out.

"Still." She's hurt and angry and confused, and the sad thing is that she still wants Tyler to be hers. "I didn't know he could do that to me."

"He _was_ drunk."

"That doesn't make me feel better."

Damon shrugs. "I suck at the cheering up thing. But if it makes you feel better, I could bite him. I owe him one."

"I'm touched."

"Stop using dry humor, that's mine."

They sit in another companionable silence for a while. Then -

"So since you're free and I'm bored, can we have meaningless, no-string sex?"

She rolls her eyes. "No."

"Damn."

But they both know he's not serious, and it makes her feel better to see that he's not treating her any different. She's still Caroline, and that's what's important.

* * *

After a night of whining, eating ice cream, and ogling at the hot guys in Bonnie's movie collection, Caroline collapses into her own bed. She's tired and she wants to sleep. Closing her eyes, she fumbles for the lamp's light switch and turns it off. There's a blessed silence.

A scatter of knocks come to her window. Snapping up and blurring to a corner, she runs through all the possibilities in her mind. Katherine, Klaus, Jules -

"Caroline?" Tyler's voice floats up to her and she doesn't know whether to laugh or curse. Moving closer to the window, she sees him staring up at her with another handful of gravel ready to go. When he catches her looking down, he gives a tentative smile. "Can you come down?"

"No."

"Care. Please?"

She sighs. She really shouldn't - she has pride, okay? - but she doesn't want to say no. Grabbing a hoodie, she jumps out the window and lands perfectly on the ground. _And she sticks the landing._

"That... still scares me."

"What do you want, Tyler?" she snaps, pulling on the sweater. He's undeterred, knowing that this harshness is her protection.

"Well, I want you _back._"

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"N - mmph."

He's kissing her and she's melting, his hands wrapping around her waist as she clings to his shoulders. Internally she's screaming at herself, Aimee Bradley's smirking face running through her mind, but in the moment her body is saying yesyes_yes_ as Tyler pulls her even closer. The kiss is soft and gentle, reassuring and pleading. He's asking for her forgiveness and she shouldn't even be thinking of granting it, but damn if she hasn't missed him for the single day he's been gone.

"I'm sorry," he breathes between kisses, the words ghosting across her face. She smiles and presses her lips against his more firmly, effectively cutting off any communication. He smiles back, long and slow and languid.

He'd already left her once, leaving her heart broken and lost. She didn't intend on letting him go again. And how could she refuse an apology like this?

"Tyler Lockwood!"

"Mom? Oh my God - "

"Oh. Um, good evening, Sheriff - "

"Good evening? It's almost one in the morning! Take your hands off my daughter and get back to your house before I write you up, got it?"

"Yes'm."

"Mom! God, this is so embarrassing."


	8. What I Didn't Say

**Written at almost 2AM after watching two amazing Forwood videos. **

**I'm so fricking excited for Season 3, you have no idea. If there's nothing but friendship!Forwood I'm going to be pissed.**

**There are scenes I'll take from the actual series, and scenes I've made up. Caroline is human, everyone else is their respective supernatural being.**

* * *

When they were younger, Caroline was always the boss. The other children learned that quickly, and no one really challenged her position. She was always the strong, confident, brash one, willing to go to new heights for the benefit of everyone. She was just like that. She was uninhibited and unbreakable even then.

Maybe that's why Tyler hates himself so much. Because he's changed her, brought her down, tarnished her. The once-fearless girl has become broken; she's fragile and oh-so-delicate all because of him.

Her eyes are wide and tentatively hopeful as they pierce through him in front of the hospital and he feels like he can't breathe - who is this girl, and where is Caroline Forbes? And much more importantly, how can he get the hell away from here?

_You broke her. You smashed her into pieces when you just stood there and watched. Her blood was staining the trailer right before your eyes and you did absolutely nothing._

She's so beautiful.

* * *

"Caroline."

She whips around, hands already wrapped protectively around her middle. "No. You do not get to talk to me right now."

The Grill is crowded, but it's funny because no one - not one fricking person in this huge mess of people - is taking notice of them.

She speeds past him, going so fast that he finds himself moving towards her as well, trying to grab her before she can blow past him. And then suddenly she's trying to move to the side and he's stopping her, reaching for her shoulders a second too late and trying to catch her before she falls. He manages to haul her up just inches before she hits the floor and then they're almost two feet apart, Caroline's posture screaming _be careful with me _as she backs away.

He wishes he's better at being careful.

"Care, please - "

She scowls at her nickname, the way it unconsciously slips past his lips. "You left me, and I got the message. Loud and clear, Tyler. So stay the hell away from me."

He gives her a long look, pleading and anxious and _damn it all_, begging.

Her face cracks but then she runs away, so quickly he can't recognize her expression.

He wants to throw something.

* * *

She has her iPod on really, really loud and its blasting through the whole house as she mindlessly dances. She contemplates bringing a bottle of scotch out to join her before she pushes the thought away - she doesn't need her thoughts blurred and warped tonight.

Her life has gotten so messy. Too messy for this OCD-clean girl to handle, really. She wants to clean it all up so badly but she can't; there's a web of lies and mistrust and guilt and blood that wraps everyone around and around until they get too dizzy to sort anything out. Besides, if she yanks on one string, then a huge pile of stuff is bound to fall out on the other end.

That's the sucky part about life. You're close enough to get entangled, but not close enough to sort it all out.

She considers talking to Bonnie and Elena, but decides almost immediately not to. They have their own problems, and Caroline is not going to dump hers onto their shoulders for them to carry as well. She's always been the burden holder, and she doesn't give up on her bundles easily.

Then she thinks about calling Damon, because he always makes her feel better somehow even though he's a bad vampire. Maybe it's his caustic viewpoint, or his unbiased opinions, or maybe just his ability to shut up and listen sometimes without trying to fix everything for her. She needs that in her life because she's not the one who needs repairs, she's the one who gives them out. And when she can't, she doesn't take kindly to other people taking her job away from her. But no, Damon can't help either. He's already helped enough, and she gets the feeling that problems with Elena are getting bad these days - bad enough to the point where even she feels uneasy about confronting him.

_Tyler._

She turns her iPod up even louder. Maybe she will take that scotch after all.

* * *

He just _happens_ to be driving past her house when he hears it.

(Okay, fine, he's actually pathetic enough to the point where whenever he goes out, he makes a detour to her house to check up on her. Is that so bad? God.)

The music is so loud he can hear it from the road, which means that the neighbors definitely can. And seeing how it's almost dark and Caroline is never inconsiderate enough to disturb the people around her when she can help it, the volume can only mean one thing.

She's drunk.

Almost before he can think about what he's doing, he's pulling up into her driveway and pulling the spare key out from under the flowerpot second to the left on the porch. The door swings open for him and he enters, seeing the guilty speakers immediately. They're set on the table in the entryway, making the surface actually vibrate with the bass line. He pauses the music and turns the speakers off, ears ringing in the sudden silence.

He knows where she'll be: the living room, close to the alcohol stash. Sure enough, she's curled up in the middle of the sofa with a glass of scotch in her hand, eyes open and staring at the rug. He steps into the room carefully. He knows that she knows he's there.

"Why did you leave me without saying goodbye?"

"I didn't think you wanted one."

Her head snaps up, the scotch tipping haphazardly. "Well then, you must be pretty fricking stupid."

"Last time we talked, you kicked me off your porch after yelling at me."

She glares balefully. "And I had every right to."

"I know." His submission seems to confuse her, but she soon sets the glass down and waves him over. He sits down awkwardly on the sofa next to her head and she sits up, taking a moment to settle her vertigo before facing him.

"Tyler."

"Yeah?"

"I missed you. Did you know that?"

His forehead creases. "No."

"I thought about calling you a lot." Her voice is slightly slurred, but still distinct and matter-of-fact. "I was mad at you a lot too. I cried. Damon didn't like it. I missed you, Tyler."

He painfully remembers how honest she is when she's drunk. "I, uh. I missed you too, Care."

She sighs gustily and leans against his arm. He automatically wraps it around her, tucking her into his side. "See, now you're being nice. Why are you so bipolar, Tyler?"

"I'm, um - "

"Matt broke up with me," she announces. "I felt like I should be sad, but I wasn't. I was just kind of there. You know? I didn't feel anything."

She starts crying, so silently that he has to look down to realize it. He feels a jolt of panic go through him and so he hugs her tighter, holds her closer. "Caroline? God, please don't cry. Care, don't cry."

"I don't want to cry," she tells him, voice rough with tears. "I don't want to cry anymore."

He cups her face in his hands and looks at her, eyes that rare kind of intense that make them look like dying stars. "Then don't."

She sniffles and tries to turn aside. He pushes her face back to meet her gaze again. "Don't leave, Tyler."

"I'm not going to leave. I swear. I'm not going to leave."

* * *

He has one second to register the vampire's appearance before he's being held up by his throat, back slammed against the wall. "What the hell are you doing here?" Damon Salvatore snarls, face inches from his.

Tyler tries to shove him off. "Caroline got drunk - I was taking care of her - Jesus, Damon, what the hell is up with you?"

Damon lets go of Tyler's shirt and drops the paper bag in his hand, squeezing his eyes shut. "Dammit."

"What are _you_ doing here?"

"Get that possessive tone the fuck out of your voice."

"Well?"

"Blondie here doesn't eat, okay?" Damon fixes him with a glare. "She's not anorexic or anything, she just forgets. That's how stressed she is. And you don't help with that problem."

Tyler flicks a glance to the sleeping girl to his left. She'd fallen asleep right after the crying part, nestling into his side again and breathing evenly, deeply. She'd been out for about two hours already, and Tyler had done nothing but sit with her. "Did she eat today?"

"I don't know." Damon goes over to Caroline and shakes her. "Barbie. Wake up. Hey, Barbie, come on. Did you eat today?"

Caroline makes a strangled sort of noise. "Go 'way."

"She's going to be dead tired and hungover," Tyler starts.

"I'm not stupid. Be useful or get the hell out of here." The vampire backs away and picks up the bag, disappearing into the adjacent kitchen. Tyler crouches down next to Caroline and gently shakes her, conscious of Damon's eyes on him.

"Caroline, wake up a little. Care?"

"What."

"Do you remember what you ate today?"

She blinks sleepily up at him. "I don't know... ugh, my head - "

Tylenol and a bottle of water come flying from the direction of the kitchen. The medicine bottle hits Tyler on the head and he shoots a glare at Damon, who just grins. He tips two pills out and gives them to Caroline, opening the water for her before she sits up and takes it.

When Caroline is a little more lucid and a little less hungover, the three of them sit and talk. Well, Tyler and Damon sit. Caroline moves around the kitchen a little slower than her usual speed and starts to reheat the Chinese food Damon brought. He wrinkles his nose at the smell of human food.

"Do you remember eating at all?" Tyler asks her, concerned.

"I don't remember much of anything normal these days. It all happens way too fast for me to register small things like eating."

"How is eating a _small thing_?" Damon says incredulously. "I don't remember a lot about it, but I'm pretty sure it's a huge part of your survival."

She shakes her head at the sarcasm. Damon shoots one last look at Tyler before he scrapes his chair back, not bothering to say goodbye as he leaves.

"Where did he go?" Caroline asks, setting a fork on the table. Tyler shrugs, gesturing lamely towards the front door. She purses her lips, understanding. Then she waves a fork in his direction. "You wanna eat too?"

He wouldn't mind, but he's already eaten dinner and she hasn't eaten anything in a day. So he shakes his head and makes sure that she puts everything Damon got her on her plate. Now that the smell of food is filling the kitchen she seems hungry, tapping her fingers impatiently as the microwave whirs. He sits down at the table in front of her place, unnecessarily nervous.

Then she sits down in front of him and messes around with her hair before flicking a glance up at him and picking up her fork. That's when he realizes that she's nervous too. So he takes this one chance and holds onto it with everything he's got.

"Caroline, I - "

"No, let me start." She puts her fork back down, food untouched, and presses her palms against the wood of the table. "I'm sorry for being such a bitch lately. I know I've been avoiding you like crazy, and I snapped at you a lot, and I don't really remember what I said when I was drunk a few hours ago but I have a feeling I don't really want to know, and God my head is still pounding so I'm not really making any sense right now - "

"Care, breathe." He starts to reach for her across the table but then his hands whip back, eyes turning bright with self-consciousness. Caroline isn't sure if she's pleased or disappointed he pulled away. "Don't apologize. I know you have this thing for taking on people's problems, but seriously. Relax, okay? I should be the one apologizing."

"You just hurt me a lot," she says, working to keep her voice even. "And I thought - I don't know. I thought you wouldn't."

"You trusted me not to." They both know what's hanging in the air between them but they don't acknowledge it, choosing instead to continue in oblivion.

"And then you left. You didn't say goodbye, either. I didn't even get a warning."

"I... I had my reasons."

"Those would've been nice to hear too." He watches the steam rise from her General Tso's rather than meeting her gaze. "So why did you leave?"

"You should eat."

"Tyler."

"Do you really want to talk about this now?" He looks up at her then.

"I've been left without an answer for almost two months," she replies. He takes a deep breath and she notices it's slightly shaky. "Why did you leave me?"

_Hell._

Not _Why did you leave Mystic Falls?_ or _Why did you leave your friends?_ or anything else more generalized. It goes straight to the core of the matter. Why did you leave _me._ And he finds himself with an answer he doesn't want to give. He may be more mellow now that his werewolf side is venting out all the anger once a month, but he's still Tyler Lockwood. He still has his pride, goddammit.

"I knew you hated me." The words are bitter coming from his mouth - he doesn't know if she still hates him, and it still eats away at him like nothing else. Her mouth tightens. "I thought you deserved better than having someone like me in your life."

"I was hurt," she repeats. "You turned your back on me when I needed you. But... I could never _hate_ you, Tyler."

And there it is, that lurch of his stomach and sudden inability to breathe.

God, she's just so easy to love.

_You're such a pussy, Lockwood._

She fidgets suddenly and picks up her fork, starting in on her chicken with such enthusiasm that he knows she's embarrassed. He smiles slightly and leaves the issue alone for now, knowing she'll get hostile and lash out at him if he pushes her any further. He waits patiently for the conversation change and sure enough, she chooses an inconsequential detail to rant about.

"Damon always gets me this huge load of food as if gorging myself will make up for not eating the rest of the day. I swear he's forgotten everything about eating. He may know a lot about vampire crap, but he definitely sucks at meal planning."

He raises an eyebrow. "So... what am I supposed to do about that?"

She rolls her eyes. "Get a fork, dumbass."

* * *

**Okay, this turned into a rambling mess.**

**I don't even...**

**Yeah. If you can find the point of this, then please tell me, cause I honestly don't have any idea what purpose this serves.**


	9. This Love Will Be Your Downfall

**I'm on this Forwood rampage right now, and there's still a month and 10 days till the season 3 premiere. It's not a good situation.**

**This is AU/AH.**

* * *

They're fine most of the time. They're like all the other couples out there, laughing and teasing and caring to the point of nausea on other people's part. He opens the car door for her, knowing that despite her self-help attitude, she secretly loves being treated like a lady and taken care of. She calms him down when he gets angry and is always waiting to patch him up after a fight, helping silently instead of bombarding him with questions because she knows that if he wants to talk about it, he will.

But then there are the moments that no one, least of all them, are prepared for. The _fight until both of them feel like crying_ moments, _scream at each other from opposite ends of the hall in school _moments, and the _refuse to come within fifty feet of each other _moments that spring out of nowhere and trap them for days and weeks and sometimes even months. Both of their personalities are intense, broken, flickering; nothing can fix them except each other.

Tyler flirts with pretty girls right in front of her at the Grill's bar just to prove to her that she is, in fact, disposable to him. She retaliates by making out with one of the other members of the football team, which stings especially because he's the team captain. He hooks up with one of the town's whores, making sure that she's at the party and watching when he takes the other girl up to a bedroom. Maybe he's trying to get her to come in and throw a fit: prove that she does need him, more than they'll ever know. But she never does, no matter how badly she wants to. She has pride that saves her from such a scene, and she wouldn't be Caroline Forbes without her pride.

Sometimes when they confront each other, Tyler pins her to the nearest surface and holds her arms so tightly they bruise the next day. Sometimes Caroline slaps him so hard the redness doesn't go away for a day and he has trouble chewing. Furniture is smashed and the walls shake as they yell because you can't hate someone that much without loving them at the same time. Passion is the only thing that keeps them standing, and there's no other way for it to escape than through their fights.

They can tell that the other cares though - the whole school can. It's obvious during football practice when Tyler works Caroline's latest lover to within an inch of his life. It's also obvious when Caroline gets into a bitch fight with some girl who hooked up with Tyler and doesn't know well enough to leave it at just a hook up. All of Mystic Falls knows that Caroline is Tyler's and Tyler is Caroline's, despite the way they act and the way they talk.

It's easy to say that they're done or that they're going to live separately from now on. It's much, much harder to keep that promise because they aren't _somebodies_ without the other - they're just there, and there's no spark that ignites into life. It's funny, because they'd somehow survived before their mess of a relationship started, but as soon as it got going they realized just what exactly had been empty that whole time. It's like getting hooked onto a drug - you were fine without it, but now that you've started it's so much harder to stop. They push each other, mix and combine and combust uncontrollably. But the explosions are bright and beautiful, like fireworks right before they fade. The brightness sears into your eyes and you know it's going to die out, but it's all the more beautiful for its fragility.

This is what makes Caroline and Tyler alive, even when they're fighting so hard it feels like they're physically abusing each other with every word. And sooner or later, they realize that existence is nothing without life. So they crash back together again, edges sharp enough to cut and make them bleed. But they're _alive_ and they burn all the brighter for it.

Mystic High will echo with bitter rumors and harsh words; their houses will shake with yells and breaking furniture. They are like a gas fire - dangerous, wild, hot and damn near impossible to put out. They fight and stop speaking and throw each other against walls, all because it's worth it when they kiss and laugh and fall asleep together.

They like to break each other because when they do, they can put each other back together again.

So then Tyler Lockwood and Caroline Forbes becomes Tyler and Caroline, which turns into TylerandCaroline spoken in one breath because one can't exist without the other anymore. Not now that they know what it's like to be this broken - shattered until you can't tell who you are anymore.

Not now that they know what it's like to be put back together, piece by jagged piece, by someone who cares so much it _hurts_.


	10. Sour Confessions

**Based on the (immensely frustrating) promo pictures released.**

* * *

She's organizing the final touches to Elena's eighteenth birthday party in typical Caroline fashion: rushed and meticulate. On one hand, she's hoping that keeping her hands busy will keep her mind from wandering as well. On the other, well. Whoever was in charge of refreshments obviously didn't bother to do a good job. Is it really that hard to buy a few bags of chips and order a pizza?

There's still a lot to be done - she needs to lay out the food in some pretty design and buy a few more drinks cause they're totally going to run low - and she's wondering how exactly she's going to do it all when she hears movement behind her. She whips around, strands of hair sticking to her lip gloss as her vampire speed kicks in.

"Whoa there, Care, it's just me." The familiar tenor voice of one Tyler Lockwood calms her jumping heart for a second as she recognizes _ally_, but then it starts beating in double-time again for a whole _'nother_ reason.

"Oh. Yeah, hi. What's up?" She pushes her curls out of her face and inwardly curses her makeup choice for the day.

"Bonnie sent me up here to help you out. Do you... need me to do anything?" He looks at her, brow furrowing. "Here, wait." Reaching out, he pulls one remaining strand of hair from her lips. She swears she can feel the heat from his fingers caress her cheek. "I, um. I have my car, so if you need me to go out and get something - "

"I - yeah. Um, actually, help me out with the food first?" She gestures to the pizza boxes and various snack bags scattered on the table. "I have a few bowls for the chips but I'm not sure what to do with the pizza or drinks or anything..."

"Well, you have those big plates back there." His gaze shifts from her face to what's behind her and she steps aside, thanking her lucky stars that vampires can't blush. "Just take the pizza out of the boxes and put it on those. And the drinks can just line up behind everything else, but I don't think we have enough."

"Yeah, I'll have to ask you to get some more later." She shoots an easy smile over at him, calming herself down. "Help me out with the food though, come on."

They work in companionable silence together for a few minutes, the only sound coming from the pizza as it rasps against the cardboard box and onto the white ceramic platters Jeremy had dug out from some cabinet in the long-forgotten kitchen.

"I wish Stefan and Jenna were here," Caroline whispers. He remains silent, giving her an understanding look instead. "Elena needs them."

"Where _is_ Stefan?" Tyler asks tentatively, lining the soda bottles up behind the chip bowls. "Does anyone know?"

"I think Damon's keeping a very loose record, but no one's certain. The... the _wreckage_ is pretty obvious when you know what to look for." She takes a deep breath. "We really shouldn't mention this all to Elena tonight. She's having a hard enough time as it is."

"Yeah, of course. Where is she now?"

"I think Damon's keeping her occupied. This is a surprise, so we needed her out of the boarding house. It's hard enough keeping her out of here, but we needed the massive space with the amount of people coming. But hey, who's on the invite list?"

"I'm not really sure," he says slowly. If she didn't know better, she'd say that his voice was nervous. But what could he possibly be nervous about? "I know that the usual people are coming: Damon, Alaric, Jeremy, Bonnie, and you and me of course. I'm sure people from school are coming too."

"And as soon as there's a party, all of Mystic Falls finds their way there, right?" Caroline laughs, trying to dispel the heavy mood. He grins, shoulders still tense. "So, you bringing anyone tonight?" she jokes, bumping her hips against his.

She doesn't expect his reaction.

"Actually..." He bites his lip and lets go of the soda bottles. Moving a little away from her, he shoves his hands in his pockets. "I kind of am."

She turns to face him, expression frozen. "What do you mean, 'kind of?'"

"I mean we're not _going out_ or anything, it's just that we're kind of going to the thing together and - "

"Okay." She picks up a stack of plastic cups, keeping her appearance together even though she feels like screaming on the inside. She's _Caroline Forbes._ She's the queen of facades and masks. "Have fun."

"I - " His mouth parts disbelievingly. "Wait, what?"

"Have fun," she repeats. "That's what friends say to each other when one of them is going on a date, right? Or do guys say stuff like 'get it in?'"

"No, that's _not_ what's going on. Caroline - "

Her head is pounding and she really needs him to leave, now. "You have your car, right? Can you pick up some more soda or something for us? Like you said, we're low."

"Caroline."

"Tyler, please. I want this party to go perfectly."

He gives her another piercing look, words obviously resting on the tip of his tongue. She avoids his gaze and instead stares at a point right above his shoulder. He takes a breath, shakes his head, then walks out of the room.

She falls to the floor, crosses her legs, and keeps her eyes wide open. She will not cry.

* * *

How could she have ever been stupid enough to think that Tyler had the _smallest bit of feelings_ toward her? It's so obvious now as she leans against a wooden archway, watching Tyler 'get it in' with Sofie something-or-other from school.

(Okay, so they aren't making out or anything, but still. Watching them talk in that stupid flirty way is bad enough.)

She's totally out of it, feeling awkward like only a creeper can as she continues to look at Tyler, so she doesn't notice Matt's standing next to her until Tyler goes for the kill with Sofie and she feels the _need_ to rip her eyes away.

"Care? God, Caroline, where are you looking?"

"Oh, um, Matt. Hi, how are you?"

"Good, I guess. How have you been? I know things aren't really easy on you - "

"I'm fine." It's her standard answer, the two words that spill out from her mouth as soon as she reaches that emotional barrier. "So what's been going on in your life?"

He's not stupid, he knows she's deflecting. But, being Matt, he leaves that alone. Any other girl would've been grateful for his tact. Caroline wishes he'd pry, get her to open up so she can vent, cry on his shoulder, rant, curse, scream, whatever. Of course Matt wouldn't do that. Tyler would, but who cares about him?

_Oh yeah._

"The job at the Grill's been good to me, and the bills aren't as bad as before. Hey, school's starting up soon. Did you get all the summer homework done?"

"Of course," she replies, distracted. "I always do, right?"

He chuckles. "Yeah, that's true. You _are_ Caroline Forbes."

_I'm Caroline Forbes._

Somehow, that means a lot more than it should. Caroline's perfect, Caroline has a mask on, Caroline's always too good but never good enough, _Caroline never gets the guy she wants_.

"It was nice catching up, Matt." She sends a perfunctory smile over to him and walks away, heading towards the back doors.

Maybe Damon's willing to share that bourbon.

* * *

Turns out Damon needs all the alcohol he can get, so he refused to share with Caroline. That's okay though, because she doesn't really feel like getting buzzed tonight. She just wants to forget everything for a while, and who says she needs alcohol for that? So for the next few hours she mingles and small-talks and laughs and plans and lives in the moment. Bonnie and Elena notice something off, know that the hyperactivity is because there's something Caroline doesn't want to talk about, but they leave it alone. Everyone knows you can't push Caroline into something she doesn't want.

The music's getting slower and quieter, matching the mood of the party as it winds down. A few people have trickled out of the boarding house already, but the atmosphere still carries that party hum. She's wandering around the room, admiring the twinkle lights that Jeremy and Damon put up, when a familiar werewolf crosses her line of vision.

A spurt of nerves and excitement bubbles in her stomach - something she's gotten used to in the past month or so - but this time it's different. This time, she's different. This time, she's not Caroline Forbes, the girl who loses the guy.

"Tyler." He turns to look at her, their eyes level with each other's due to her heels. His shoulders drop as his hands go into his pockets again, tension obviously leaving to be replaced by nervousness.

"Caroline."

"Why did you ask Sofie to come with you?" She cuts straight to the point, like she's only done once before when they were chained in a dungeon together right after Tyler got back from wherever he'd been with Jules.

He's silent, mind working as he tries to formulate an answer. He slowly begins: "I didn't know if... if _you_ were even thinking about the possibility of - well, after Matt, I just assumed..." He takes a deep breath, centering himself again. "I didn't want to take advantage of you. I didn't want to ruin this friendship we have."

"Take advantage of me?" she echoes. "_Tyler._ How could you possibly take advantage of me?"

"I kissed you!" His voice is taut, not loud enough to be overheard but crystal clear to her. "I kissed you, and - and then right after you were _abducted_ and _tortured_, and I never got to apologize or explain or even talk to you about it, and then I just jump to liking you without even regarding your feelings on anything! How the hell am I supposed to act? I just _dumped_ everything on you, Caroline, and now I wish I could go back and erase everything. I wish I didn't _feel_ this way. I can't... I just... I just _can't." _

_He can't._

"I see." This time, she can't stop the tears that spring to her eyes. "I'll leave you alone then."

His wide eyes tell her that he's just processed what he said. "Wait, Caroline, that's not what I meant."

"Yeah, okay." Oh God, her voice is getting thick. She turns away, brushing the first tear off her face with the heel of her hand. "I'll see you around, Tyler."

"Care - "

She's gone.

* * *

**If this is the way the actual episode goes, I'm going to scream.**

**I'm sorry about the angsty ending, but it's 1:40AM and I can't think of any other ending based on the promo photos and not my happy imagination. So... yes.**


	11. Paper Hearts

**Just because I adore Caroline&Damon friendship, and cause I wanted to write something light.**

**This is slightly AU - imagine that Caroline _didn't_ get shot with vervain and had instead woken up to a nice "morning after" with Tyler.**

* * *

She throws herself into her seat and sighs happily. "Sorry I'm late." Damon looks at her with raised eyebrows. "What?" she says defensively. "A girl can't be happy nowadays?"

"Most happy girls don't smell like wet dog," Damon points out.

She huffs. "Tyler doesn't smell like _wet dog._ Stop playing on stereotypes."

"You still smell like him, honey. Do I _want_ to know why?" He plays with the rim of his glass lazily, the sun glinting off his hair as it hits the Grill's patio dining area perfectly. When she doesn't answer, he looks up with a disgusted expression. "Are you seriously saying that you had _sex_ with a _werewolf_ last night?"

"Yeah, scream that just a bit louder, Damon," she hisses. "Ecuador didn't quite hear you."

"Is that what he said in bed?"

"Oh my God. I'm not having this conversation with you."

"Was he better than me?"

"Seeing as he didn't torture me or take my blood, yes, I'd say so," she bites back waspishly. He grins; they've reached a point in their friendship where even those memories don't hurt them.

"But in terms of, ah, _pleasure?_"

"I'm not having this conversation with you," she repeats, a slight blush covering her cheeks.

He shrugs. "Whatever." His expression turns a little more serious then. "Are you okay, Barbie?"

She looks at him, a little confused by the one-eighty he just pulled. "Okay with... what?"

Damon rolls his eyes, reverting back to his sarcastic normal mode. She breathes a little easier - it's nothing bad or scary or supernatural he's asking about, then. "Okay with the _werewolf_, you blonde."

"I take offense to that," she said automatically, but then she registered the actual question. "What do you mean...? He's not hurting me or anything."

"He did before," he reminds her. She sucks in a breath. Oh, she remembers.

"He's back now," she says sharply, more sharply than she intended. She winces. "Sorry. But... he's back. And he's not leaving again."

She briefly wonders who she's trying to convince. Damon seems to be thinking the same thing, but for some reason he doesn't push it. He just sighs and stands up, customary I-don't-give-a-crap expression sliding over his face again. "I'll see you later, Blondie."

Caroline gives him a curious look. "You said you needed to tell me something."

He leans over. "I wanted to tell you that..." he lets the sentence dangle for a few seconds, "you still smell like dog."

And then he saunters away, leaving Caroline to roll her eyes and find some blood bags.

* * *

Tyler's back from a jog - there's so much pent up energy in his system nowadays - and about to take a shower when a flutter of white catches his eye. Frowning, he goes over to his bureau and picks up a smooth, worn sheet of paper. It looks like it's been torn out of an old, blank diary.

A messy, somehow elegant scrawl fills the page.

_Let's get this straight, werewolf - hurt her like I did and I'll personally return the favor of your bite. Except this time around, I'll rip out your jugular. Got it?_

A signature isn't needed.

Despite the threat, Tyler has to grin. He can just imagine what Caroline's reaction would be to the note.

* * *

_"I'm not a fricking damsel in distress!"_


	12. Recompensation

**Because we're all dying inside for a little bit of Forwood.**

* * *

She feels him before she sees him. The slide of skin, heat blossoming up his chest to her shoulder, a long exhale that stirs the strands of her hair and whispers against her cheek. The slight salty tang of sweat seeps into the sheets and she moans, wriggling away from him in sleepy protest.

"Tyler, that's gross."

He snuggles his face into the hollow between her shoulder blades, grinning at her squeaks. "You love it. You love _me."_

She snorts. "I tolerate you when you're clean. I most definitely do _not_ come even _close_ to loving you when you're all sweaty and disgusting after a run."

A laugh rasps out of his throat. A pause, then - "It's cold out."

"But you're not wearing a shirt."

"And your point is?"

She rolls her eyes under her tightly shut eyelids. "Why would you complain about it being cold if you're not wearing a shirt?"

"I wasn't complaining, Care. I was just - " he kisses her shoulder, "stating - " again, "a fact."

"Well, go state facts somewhere else. Like in the shower."

He grins again as he shifts to kiss her collarbone. "I'm kind of busy."

She can't help the smile that blooms across her face as she rolls over to face him. Running a hand over his unshaven jaw, she presses a small kiss to the corner of his mouth. "You'll have to make it up to me."

He traces a line down to her hips and grasps them suddenly, lifting her on top of him and laughing as she squeals in surprise. "Oh, I plan to."


	13. All Quiet

**Come on. Caroline gets tortured brutally for like six hours and then the next screenshot is of her drinking and being happy? I don't think so.**

**This was lying around and I finally got to finish it; sorry for the off timing.**

* * *

The water drips off her skin as she examines her wounds in the mirror, steam still clouding it from her long shower. The marks are all but gone, thanks to vampire healing, but she still turns her head this way and that, searching for burnt skin there and glancing every so often at her hands.

_It's always me._

The thought strikes her with startling clarity but she bows her head, immediately rejecting the idea. It isn't _always_ her, and she has no right to assume it is. So many people have been hurt, so many have been victimized, and for her to go around pitying herself because she's been held captive a few times isn't only counterproductive, it's pathetic. And Caroline Forbes doesn't_ do_ pathetic.

Wincing as she flexes her hands, she exits the bathroom and walks into her closet, quickly putting on comfortable clothes and throwing her towel in the laundry hamper. The vervain injuries have completely healed, but her hands are still raw from having wood shoved into them for such a long period of time. Pulling back her covers, she's about to crawl into bed when she hears the front door open.

Her body stiffens all over. Her mind goes perfectly blank for one second before a barrage of thoughts almost knocks her over, searing and hot in their intensity. _Alaric Klaus Rebekah Alaric Originals and _Alaric.

"Caroline?"

Her breath leaves her lungs in one gush and suddenly she's shaking, legs going weak as the adrenaline pumps out of her system. "Tyler?" she asks, voice tremulous.

And then he's there, all warm and solid and _safe_ at her side as he gently lays her down on her bed, climbing in next to her and pulling her to his shoulder. He breathes her name over and over again like a prayer, fingers tight around her rib cage. "Don't leave my sight, okay? Don't go anywhere without me or Matt or Damon or _someone_ to help you out - "

Tears spill over from her eyes, hot and slow as they trickle down to his shirt. "I thought I was going to die," she confesses, remembering the anguish on Elena's face and the calculating look on Alaric's. "I really thought I was going to die."

"Stop it," he says harshly, twisting to stare at her. "You are _not_ going to die. Not while I'm around." A pause. "And Caroline, I can promise you I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

The breezy smell of Tyler's clothes quickly soothes her, his thumbs rubbing a comforting pattern across her skin. She falls asleep to the sound of his heartbeat and the blood rushing through both their veins.


End file.
